Barbecue season could be tougher on your wallet this year: experts say the price of pork is set to soar.
“We have never seen prices this high before,” says Terry Stemmler, who owns a meat shop in Heidelberg. “Three months ago we would have had side rib on for maybe $1.99 on a hot special. And now currently we’re seeing prices at $3.49 [to] $3.69.”
According to several experts, the price hike is a result of a pork shortage, caused by three main factors.
The first: porcine epidemic diarrhea, which is wiping out nursing piglets.
That virus, combined with a weak Canadian dollar and newly-signed free trade agreements have dealt a big blow to the industry.
Products like ham, loins, ribs and pork bellies have already doubled in cost in the wholesale market.
“Those items, those specific items, can be anywhere from 50, 60, 70 per cent more this March and April compared to last March and April,” says Kevin Grier, Senior Market Analyst at the George Morris Centre. “So then the retailer finds himself in a bit of a conundrum. How can he pass that along in an environment that’s very, very competitive?”
Grier says, come July, retail prices will peak, likely driving consumers to buy other meats.
